Working Scientist

Learning how to coding brings career benefits and helps science by aiding reproducibility, Julie Gould discovers.Jessica Hedge tells Julie Gould about how she learned to code as a PhD student, and the freedom and flexibility it provides to manage large datasets."I never saw myself as a coder and it took me a long time to realise I had to pick up the skills myself," she tells Julie Gould in the second episode of this six-part series about technology and scientific careers. "A colleague was using Python and R and I saw the potential." What is her advice to other early career researchers who are keen to develop coding expertise?Also, Brian MacNamee, an assistant professor in the school of computer science at University College Dublin, talks about the college's data science course and how it can benefit both humanities and science students.Finally, Nature technology editor Jeffrey Perkel describes how coding can help with computational reproducibility. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Mark Dodgson and Lee Cronin discuss the revolutionary potential of artificial intelligence on university teaching, research, and scientific careers.Artificial intelligence (AI) has been hailed as the "fourth Industrial Revolution," a disruptive technology set to transform world economies and the traditional workplace. But how will AI and deep learning affect the future of universities, the very institutions that developed the technology in the first place?Kicking off this six-part Working Scientist podcast series on technology and scientific careers, Mark Dodgson, professor of innovation studies at the University of Queensland Business School and a visiting professor at Imperial College London, predicts how AI could change university teaching, how institutions measure student performance, and how they conduct scientific research."Unless universities get pretty coherent strategies to deal with this technology, they will struggle" he warns.But Lee Cronin, regius chair of chemistry at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, disagrees."There's no magic in AI," he argues. "It's just a tool, a series of mathematical processes that allows you to extract meaning, or some degree of meaning, from large data sets."Addressing the technology's potential impact on teaching, Cronin adds: "If we want to use AI as a tool to basically make grading cheaper, then fine, do that."But universities aren't about grading. They are about educating people to think critically, about preparing people with sufficient high level skills to add to the economy and be creative."The thing I really love about our universities is their creativity. There's no AI that can assess creativity. There just isn't."Finally, Nature technology editor Jeffrey Perkel describes how technology underpins the entire scientific enterprise, pointing to some of the most popular topics covered in his section recently, including a feature on deep learning for biology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

China's investment in materials science makes it an attractive destination for young foreign researchers looking to relocate, with decent salaries and facilities that many western universities would envy.John Plummer, senior portfolio editor for Nature Research and a former senior editor for Nature Materials, based in Shanghai, says this investment is driven by the Chinese government's desire to deliver cutting-edge research and raise the living standard of people living in rural areas.The challenge, as with other parts of the world, is to give researchers independence and time to innovate, rather than face pressure to publish, and to deliver a quick return on investment, he adds.Xin Li, associate editor of Nature Materials, also based in Shanghai, describes China's technology transfer environment and how the country's lab culture compares to labs in the west.Finally, Plummer speculates on the likely impact of the current trade war between the US and China have on research collaboration and innovation.Nature Briefing Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many grant funding decisions are random, with luck playing a large part. How can the system be improved, particularly when funds are tight? In the final episode of our six-part series on funding, Feric Fang, a professor in the departments of laboratory medicine and microbiology at the University of Washington, Seattle, describes how a two-tier "modified lottery" could be a fairer process, with grants randomly prioritised to applications that had some merit but did not attract funding first time round.New Zealand's Health Research Council already operates a similar system, says Vernon Choy, the council's direct of research investments and contracts.Its Explorer Grants panel does not discuss rankings but instead judges if an application's proposals are viable and if they meet an agreed definition of "transformative." These applications then go into a pool and a random number generator is applied to to allocate funding based on the budget available.Because applications are anonymised, Choy says there is no bias against a particular institution or research team, allowing young and inexperienced researchers to compete more fairly against senior colleagues.Johan Bollen, a professor at Indiana University's school of informatics, computing and engineering, describes how a Self Organising Funding Allocation system (SOFA) would work, removing the burden of writing grant applications."What if we just give everybody a pot of money at the beginning of the year and then redistribute a certain percentage to others?" he asks. Paid content: European Research Council"We are open to the world" says ERC president Jean-Pierre Bourguignon. Its grantees straddle 80 nationalities and the organisation has signed collaboration agreements with 11 countries, including China, India, Brazil, Australia and Japan.Helen Tremlett, who leads the pharmacoepidemiology in multiple sclerosis research group at the University of British Colombia, Canada, spent time in the lab of an ERC grantee at the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany. This experience, along with publication of a 2011 paper in Nature looking at how the gut microbiome may be influential in triggering the animal model of MS, had career-changing consequences, leading her down a new research path. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julie Gould asks how early career researchers can develop their careers in the face of funding's "boom and bust" cycle and the short-termism it engenders.Governments are swayed by political uncertainty and technological developments, argues Michael Teitelbaum, author of Falling Behind?Boom, Bust, and the Global Race for Scientific Talent.In the US, for example, space research funding dramatically increased after Soviet Russia launched the Sputnik 1 satellite in 1957, ending after the 1969 moon landing.Similar booms followed in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, says Teitelbaum, a Wertheim Fellow in the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School and senior advisor to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York.But he argues that they are unsustainable and can have a negative impact on the careers of junior scientists and their research. Will Brexit trigger a funding downturn, and if so, for how long? Watch this space, says Teitelbaum. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In April 2018 the UK's funding environment was transformed with the launch of UK Research and Innovation, an umbrella agency which oversees more than £6 billion (US$7.4 billion) of research funding per year, led by Sir Mark Walport, formerly the UK government's chief scientific adviser.In episode four of this six-part series on funding, Julie Gould discusses the changes with James Wilsdon, professor of research policy at the University of Sheffield, UK. Wilsdon describes how the new funding landscape compares to the previous structure of seven research councils, how UKRI can support interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary research, and what this new funding landscape means for early career researchers. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Expert advice on how to get the details of a grant submission right, and planning for "curveball questions" if you are asked to deliver an oral presentation:Peter Gorsuch, Chief Editor at Nature Research Editing Services, tells Julie Gould about the all-important details to include in your grant application.Jernej Zupanc, who runs visual communication skills training for scientists, talks fonts, colours and other ways make your application easier to navigate.Anne-Marie Coriat, Head of UK and Europe Research Landscape at Wellcome Trust, London, describes how to prepare for an oral presentation, including answers to some difficult questions.Paid content: European Research CouncilRomanian researcher Alina Bădescu describes her experience of successfully applying for an ERC grant. Bădescu, an associate professor at the Faculty of Electronic, Telecommunications and Information Technology, University of Bucharest, also talks about the second-stage interview process run by the ERC at its HQ in Brussels. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's best to start planning for a grant application at least 9-12 months before the submission deadline, says Anne Marie Coriat, Head of UK and Europe Research Landscape at Wellcome Trust, London. She outlines the preparatory steps you need to take.Also in the second episode of this six-part podcast series on funding, Peter Gorsuch, Chief Editor at Nature Research Editing Services, highlights the importance of your grant application summary statement. A clearly worded document can help to convince a funding panel that you are the right person for a grant, he says.Paid contentThis episode concludes with a second sponsored slot featuring the work of the European Research Council (ERC). Alejandro Martin Hobday, who manages the unit in charge of receiving applications and coordinating the ERC's two-stage evaluation process, describes how his team supports both successful and unsuccessful applicants.And panel chair Maria Leptin, a research scientist at the University of Cologne and director of the European Molecular Biology Organisation in Heidelberg, Germany, explains how she and her expert colleagues evaluate individual applications. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this first episode of a six-part weekly series about funding, Julie Gould outlines the US National Institutes of Health's (NIH) grant review process and the extent to which reviewers evaluating the same applications agree or disagree. Is the current system the best way, she asks Elizabeth Pier, lead author of a March 2018 paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Low agreement among reviewers evaluating the same NIH grant applications.Paid contentThis episode concludes with a slot sponsored by the European Research Council. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, its president, outlines the organisation's role and remit as a grant funder. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Woolston and Julie Gould discuss the findings of Nature's 2018 salary and job satisfaction survey, which found that despite some common concerns about pay, promotion prospects, bullying and discrimination, 75% are happy with their career choice and would recommend it to others.Also, ahead of the 2019 Nature Careers Events Guide publication later this month, Julie talks to Jamie Krueger about her drive to make conferences more accessible for mothers and other researchers who juggle caring responsibilities alongside work.Krueger, a neuroscience graduate student at the University of California Davis, had her daughter three years ago and the 2019 Guide includes an interview with her.Earlier this year she chaired a panel discussion at the Society for Neuroscience conference in San Diego, California. Its focus was female scientists who began their careers and family in parallel.See also: Satisfaction in science Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alexandra Olaya-Castro describes how she draws on experiences she faced earlier in her career to support women and colleagues from minority groups in her current role as professor of physics at University College London. "Like any stereotype you can only break it down by doing what you really think is right. But you also need a network of colleagues that you can trust. The advice I give to both men and women is that if there is a minority in any group, pay them attention. Be sensitive to that person," she says.Astrophysicist Mirjana Pović, winner of Nature Research’s inaugural Inspiring Science Award, one of two prizes developed in partnership with The Estée Lauder Companies, describes her efforts to encourage African women and girls to pursue science careers, a role she juggles alongside her own research at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute in Addis Ababa and the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Granada, Spain.See also:Meet the space researcher smoothing the path for women in science across AfricaHungarian association wins prize for promoting participation of women in science Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Association of Hungarian Women in Science (NATE) has won Nature Research's inaugural Innovation in Science Award, one of two global prizes launched in partnership with The Estée Lauder Companies and presented at a ceremony in London held on 30 October 2018.In this podcast Julie Gould talks to NATE president Katalin Balázsi about the organisations's achievements and its success at inspiring women and girls to develop careers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Balázsi was one of ten women scientists who founded the association ten years ago. A follow-up podcast interview with Mirjana will go live soon.Many of the women helped by NATE juggle their careers alongside family commitments. Nana Lee, a mother of three and an assistant professor in biochemistry at the University of Toronto, concludes this episode with some advice on how to strike a balance between the two competing pressures.A companion prize, the Inspiring Science Award, was presented to Mirjana Pović, an astrophysicist at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute in Addis Ababa.See also:Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Science and Innovating ScienceHungarian association wins prize for promoting participation of women in scienceMeet the space researcher smoothing the path for women in science across AfricaNew awards aim to celebrate women in science Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lego Grad Student is the alter ego of an early career researcher whose schadenfreude-laden Twitter posts "capture an adult's distress in adult education." He tells Jack Leeming how a childhood love of Lego was reignited after a painful dissertation catch-up with his supervisor. Jack asks about his anonymity, his advice to other graduate students, and if his 63,000 @legogradstudent followers need to worry about the real-life person behind the poignant posts. Julian Kirchherr applied his experiences of running a start-up to his PhD, which he completed in less than two years. His book, The Lean PhD, describes how the principles adopted by many start-ups to get "minimal viable products" to market quickly can make PhD programmes more time-efficient and impactful. Kircherr discusses his ideas with Julie Gould.In early October more than 800 early career researchers attended the annual Naturejobs Career Expo in London, the last to be held before the UK is due leave the European Union in 2019. Julie talks to four PhD students about their career aspirations, and if Brexit is influencing their plans.See also:How to build a better PhDGraduate survey: A love-hurt relationshipTeach undergraduates that doing a PhD will require them to embrace failure Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

UK careers consultant Sarah Blackford describes how a "SWOT analysis" of your skills can identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in your career roadmap. Sarah's sound advice might well have been followed by biotechnology engineer Samuel Juillot and materials engineer Arnold Oswald. In April 2018 the two friends opened Eurekafé in Toulouse, France. Their crowdfunded cafe of curiosities is aimed at the city's scientists and the general public, offering science-related events and exhibits alongside snacks and drinks. They tell Julie Gould how the idea came about.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Career mobility is a fact of life in science and there are plenty of opportunities to study and work abroad. Andrew Spencer, a workplace trainer based in the UK, describes some of the cultural differences and hierarchies you may face when you move to another country, and how best to handle them.And Erna Karalija, a plant physiologist and assistant professor at the University of Sarajevo, talks about the current academic environment in Bosnia, and how it has been shaped by the country's turbulent recent history.See also: How to fit in when you join a lab abroadHow to deliver sound science in resource-poor regions Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The value of scientific careers outside academia needs to be acknowledged. Universities can help by publishing data on where their researchers end up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julie Gould discusses problem solving, research integrity, and the importance of feedback in PhD programmes at the 2018 ORPHEUS conference, held in Iceland. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How two women showcase the achievements of India's female research community and the career challenges they face. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Julia Hubbard has Type 1 diabetes and lupus. Collin Diedrich has dyslexia. Listen to their top tips for juggling scientific careers alongside illness and disability. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Alaina G Levine and Peter Fiske describe how networking can help you move between industry and academia. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two scientists describe their career moves from academia to vintinculture and bread making Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Lessons on a move from industry to academia from a mother-of-five. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recognising your skills and accomplishments boosts job satisfaction Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How to get better at mentoring when you’re new to a leadership role. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An insight into sports science, plus Nature's 2017 PhD survey findings explained. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

London Naturejobs Career Expo speakers, exhibitors and attendees share how flexibility in a scientific career can stretch your career options. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An interview with Jana Watson-Capps about the blossoming relationships between academia and industry, and a snippet from this week's Nature podcast on cross-disciplinary research. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.